The rancid stench permeating the wooden building revolted Asahi and Aletha. The foul air made breathing nearly impossible. Yet, Marina seemed completely unfazed.
While all three of them walked along the dusty hallway, Asahi whispered to himself.
"How is Marina not affected by this putrid scent? I want to get out of here…."
Aletha covered her mouth, turned her head to the dirty window, and tried to breathe through the glass. Their footsteps pressed on the creaking floorboards as they walked. As they approached the far end of the hallway, Aletha darted her eyes up to the ceiling and commented.
"Yes, I agree… the scent is disgusting. What is in here that makes such a horrid smell?"
"I don't know… but I hope it gets better."
Marina suddenly shifted from calm to aggression, making it difficult for the wanderers to understand her true intentions.
They walked a fair distance behind her, making sure not to get too close to Marina. As they were doing so, Asahi leaned to Aletha and whispered.
"No wonder she's lonely…."
"Shhh!"
Marina turned her head toward them and eavesdropped on the conversation. It was clear that she couldn't take more of the wanderers' complaints. She broke her honeyed act.
"Can you two be silent for a moment?! Do you want to know what this place really is or not?!"
The wanderers nodded their heads and responded while they scratched their heads.
"Y-Yeah."
"Good, then follow me. We're almost there."
As they moved deeper into the building, the wanderers observed their surroundings. Sunlight grazed the entrance, while the interior lay cloaked in shadows. Cobwebs crowded the building's corners.
As they silently walked behind Marina, Asahi thought.
"Maybe we shouldn't mess with Marina, especially if she could burst like that in this uncanny area. Trust me, Aletha, you do not want to see what Marina is like when she's angry…"
An eerie feeling surrounded them as they tread further through the building. Aletha turned to her brother, lowering her voice to a whisper.
"Asahi, I don't like it here. Maybe we should turn around?"
As they heard the buzz from the flickering candles, Asahi whispered to Aletha with a slightly cherishing tone.
"Stop being so scared. I thought you had more confidence."
"I do… but— I don't have a great feeling about this place."
Asahi sighed
"Sis, most places don't have good feelings. Wow, even Aiyana was braver than you."
Aletha's face glowed red in embarrassment.
"H—Hey! Don't bring Aiyana into this. N-No… I-I… okay fine, I trust you. But if we get eaten by a monster, I'm going to get bragging rights."
Asahi tried to hide his laugh by covering his mouth. Understanding that Aletha was anxious, he gently pushed his sister away from the dark doorway and whispered.
"Sis, we're not going to get eaten by a monster. Besides, if we were to be devoured by a monster, you wouldn't be alive to brag. Goodness, you're acting super childish today."
After the pointless arguing, all of them approached the entrance to the cellar. As they walked toward the dark opening leading to the basement, Marina halted the wanderers and raised her voice.
"Don't move! I have a light source with me."
Suddenly, Marina placed her hands on the luminance of her forehead, then pulled a glowing antenna out from a blue luminescence on her skin. It looked to be some sort of marine creature's antenna, one that you would see on a creature at the bottom of an ocean.
Marina's antenna dangled, casting light over the descending wooden stairs. She inhaled and stepped onto the staircase. A sharp creak erupted from below. Marina glanced back and warned the wanderers.
"Now, be careful. Cover your nose; the stench gets worse from here."
The wanderers sighed, hoping the stench wouldn't worsen.
With each step, Asahi and Aletha pinched their noses to block the stench. They descended after Marina's glowing antenna, the floorboards groaning loudly beneath their feet.
"Do you see that?"
Catching up with Marina, they scanned the wall. Dozens of bones jutted from the cracked plaster—a bone parade. Asahi and Aletha's eyes widened as Aletha shrieked in fear.
"W-What is that…?"
Bones cluttered every surface, from floor to ceiling. Marina ascended and swept her antenna's glow over the wall. Though confronted by bones, her only response was a blink. As she stood still, Aletha asked curiously.
"Why are there bones on the walls?"
Marina shook her head, then swiftly ran down the staircase, lowering her antenna toward the floor to illuminate the stone steps. When she reached the bottom and saw a dozen bones scattered across the floor, she tilted her head toward the wanderers, released an extended sigh, then shouted at them.
"Hurry up!"
As they approached the last of the few stairs, Asahi responded to Marina.
"We're almost there! Hold on!"
Marina waved to them and stepped forward.
"Onwards. The cellar shouldn't be that big. I wanted to show you something. I'm not the ruler of the village; I lied about that. I was just a traveler."
Aletha snapped her fingers and screamed with confidence.
"I KNEW IT!"
Marina darted up to Aletha and whispered in her ear.
"Shhh! Stop being so loud."
"Okay… sorry."
* * * * * * * *
The further they trudged through the cellar, the more bones surrounded them. Far from the stairs now, they walked down hallways, stepping in puddles tinged with a dark crimson hue. Thanks to the wanderers' innocence, they never realized what that color meant…
As Marina stepped on a floor filled with bones, she hollered.
"There it is!"`
A massive, dusty book rested on a pedestal at the end of the hallway. Asahi and Aletha, confused about its significance, found themselves distracted. The sheer number of bones sprawled across the floors concerned them even more.
As their footsteps resounded over the wall, Asahi hollered.
"Is this what you're trying to show us?!"
Marina hollered back from across the cellar.
"Indeed!"
As Asahi stepped forward, his vision suddenly blurred. He stood still— unable to recognize his surroundings. The dark, eerie cellar flashed to a seemingly younger version of the village above them.
. . .
There wasn't as much fog or trees. It appeared to be a tranquil, thriving landscape with lush greenery and mountainous terrain. There wasn't an ocean near the village, but rather a vast grassy prairie with rivers that stretched and slithered along varying heights.
"What is this place?" Asahi muttered.
He could hardly recognize this area. The vision was too blurry for him to comprehend. Aletha stood behind Asahi, wondering what he was staring at. Unfortunately for her, though, she couldn't see the vision. This was strange, since most of her sights were somehow connected to Asahi.
Though as the blur cleared from Asahi's vision, he saw a young brown-haired boy standing at the exact place he and Aletha were before, in between the blacksmith shops near the abandoned building. He undoubtedly recognized that boy.
"No, it can't be. Is that Esmel?" Asahi mumbled while his vision flashed back.
. . .
As Asahi jumped in shock, Aletha vividly remembered the name her brother had called out. She turned her head to Asahi and worriedly asked.
"Are you okay? Why were you standing like that?"
Asahi replied with a trembling tone.
"I… don't know. But I think it was because of that vision of this village in the past. The appearance of it looked vastly different from the present one."
Marina eavesdropped on the conversation and turned her head to Asahi.
"Are you speaking about this village?"
Asahi rubbed his head.
"Y-Yeah. I can't fully recollect the vision, but I know that the time was within thousands of years."
Marina jumped and ran up to Asahi.
"Thousands of years?! Are you two actually that old? That's like… before this world existed and the sea of flames! How do you two know this?"
Asahi took a deep sigh and stared into the ground. He replied with an aggressive tone.
"Because… we… ARE from this world."
Marina's aqua-blue eyes widened. She found the wanderers' story difficult to believe.
"E-Eh?!"
Asahi released a deep sigh and scratched his head. He didn't want to go through a long conversation explaining his history, so Asahi kept the explanation short and walked in front of Marina.
"Let's just say… that we existed beyond what you can imagine."
Aletha dashed behind him.
"EEK!"
She cowered behind Asahi's back and saw countless walls filled with bones. Marina shook her head and took a deep sigh. For once in her life, she actually felt eager to learn about a person.
As they reached the large dusty book, Marina stood behind Asahi and asked with a pleading voice.
"Please tell me. I want to know."
Asahi sneered at Marina's azure eyes and then replied rudely.
"I will never forgive you for what you did to me earlier. Go somewhere else, sea girl."
Aletha gritted her teeth and fiercely slapped Asahi on the back of his head.
"Be polite, brother! I don't know what she did that made you so angry, but I know for a fact you would never act like this! Be more genuine."
Asahi released a long sigh and looked at Marina coldly.
"Ugh, fine. If you can prove to me that you are sorry for your actions, I will finally give you my forgiveness. Until then, we are still enemies."
Marina formed a faint smile on her face. At least she knew that she could retrieve Asahi's forgiveness sometime. Marina stepped over a dirty puddle and approached Aletha. She swung her dangling antenna toward the walls and gave Aletha her gratitude.
"Thank you, dear Aletha. But I don't think that was necessary."
Asahi turned his head away from Marina, crossed his arms, and glared at her. He clearly couldn't bear seeing her face any longer.
"Pfft, whatever. You know what, I'll see you at the front door. I'm not dealing with this any longer."
He swiftly stomped his feet on the ground and aggressively walked toward the stairs. Aletha reached her hand and shouted to her brother.
"Asahi, get down here! You're acting like a misfit child!"
He slammed his fist against the wall and ran up the stairs. Marina started to walk up to Aletha from behind but hesitated, unsure of what to do. She remained silent, fearing Asahi's reaction. As soon as Asahi reached the door, he responded to Aletha with an aggravated tone.
"No! I will wait up here. Just do whatever you are doing! I don't want to go anywhere with that disrespectful sea girl around."
Aletha gritted her teeth, shook her head, and took a deep breath. Though she acted childish most of the time, sometimes she could be just as mature as Asahi. Aletha had a distinct personality compared to her brother. She was more playful, energetic, and lenient by nature. Even with that in mind, her present act seemed a little too out of character for Aletha. It even made her question.
"What happened to me? I never speak like that. I'm never that demanding. Nor have I ever seen Asahi act like that either."
While Aletha heard the front door swing wide open, Marina neared her and whispered.
"It's okay, dear Aletha. We can read the dusty book for ourselves. It's that boy's fault if he misses information about the village."
As both stood near the book in silence, Marina slowly lowered her eyes on Aletha. She noticed Aletha's appearance, her face slowly turned bright red, her palms started to sweat, and the pace of her heart quickened.
"Wow, you're gorgeous."
Aletha's eyes widened. As she was just about to reach the book, she swiftly turned away from it, pointed to herself, and responded to Marina with a shocked tone.
"Are you talking about… me?"
Marina again lowered her eyes, this time scanning Aletha's body from top to bottom. Aletha, watching Marina closely, asked again, her fingers nervously pinching the fabric at the bottom of her dress.
"Is something wrong? Why are you staring at me?"
Marina swiftly leapt up in shock and wiped dust off her face. She walked up to the book and tried to calm herself down. As Aletha approached her, Marina whispered to herself.
Aletha leaned toward Marina and silently stared at her. Marina, without a doubt, was invested in Aletha.
Aletha stared at Marina's eyes, still absolutely clueless about what was going on. Much like Asahi, Aletha hadn't paid attention to her looks. While Marina continued to stare, Aletha tapped her on the shoulders and asked worriedly.
"Marina, are you okay? Why are you staring? Is there something on me?"
Immediately, Marina turned her head away from Aletha, wiped sweat off her face, and focused her eyes on the book. As Aletha tried to jump to the book, Marina responded with an uneasy voice.
"N…Nothing!"
A dark, unsettling secret simmered within those pages—one Marina couldn't bear to share with Aletha. Doubt gnawed at her thoughts.
"I don't want to do this anymore."
She then slammed the book shut, turned her head to Aletha, and tremblingly whispered to her.
"D-Dear Aletha, I… have changed my mind."
Aletha raised her eyebrow, released a deep sigh, then asked.
"Why? What do you mean by that?"
Without warning, Marina swiftly grabbed Aletha's wrists and tried to pull Aletha away from the book. Aletha was quick enough to hold the textbook and carry it in her arms. As Marina continued to pull her away, Aletha raised her voice.
"We just arrived here, and now you want me to leave?"
Marina pushed her antenna back in her forehead and replied.
"Just go! You don't deserve this!"
As they raced across the bone hallways, Aletha roughly pressed her feet against the ground and urged Marina to stop. Even she was confused about what Marina meant by her words.
"Please explain what you are saying. I want to know…."
The sudden stop caught Marina off guard.
She shook her head and slowly stood back up. Aletha followed suit as well and dashed up the stairs to chase Marina. As her breath weakened, Aletha screamed at Marina.
"Where are you going?!"
As they reached the front door, they were too late. They saw Asahi stare at an empty village. No one was forging weapons, no villagers were training, and no one was preparing. There was only Phthonus, Drimi, and Sally, who seemed to be speaking to no one. This sight frightened Asahi.
"Where did everyone go? Why are Drimi and the others speaking to no one?"
As Marina raced out the door and dashed to Asahi, Aletha also noticed the sheer emptiness of the village. It quickly reminded Aletha of what happened to their nation in the past.
The empty halls were filled with dust.
Asahi dashed to Kali Leila and asked.
"Are you okay? Where is everyone?"
His question alone startled Kali. She almost fell to the floor because of how surprising his abrupt arrival was.
"Asahi?! What are you talking about? They're right here."
Still, he saw no one but her, Drimi, Phthonus, and Sally. Aletha sprinted toward Asahi and raised her voice.
"Where is everyone?! Why did you leave me there?!"
Just like Kali Leila, Asahi was also shocked by Aletha's immediate arrival. He was so surprised, he accidentally tripped on a twig and bumped into Kali.
As her face widened in both arousal and shock, both heard a loud metal clang bounce on the ground.
Kali Leila crawled to it and tried to cover up the metal object, but she was already too late.
Aletha and Asahi couldn't believe what they saw.
Below her hands, next to Asahi's foot, was a metallic, flower-shaped mask; the same exact mask they had seen on the cloaked girl who had helped them enter Pladtioa City.